


Mia Dearden Queen: Her Fourth Christmas Eve

by queencestqueen



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29094480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queencestqueen/pseuds/queencestqueen
Summary: It's December 24th, 2019, their fourth Christmas Eve since their family became whole & Thea Queen is excited to spend the evening basking in Christmas cheer with her loved ones.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Thea Queen
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Mia Dearden Queen: Her Fourth Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> \- Italicized words are thoughts as well as emphasized words.  
> \- This story features Moira "Mia" Dearden Queen, an OC daughter of Oliver & Thea Queen, that I've created. (I also have an Tumblr Independent RP blog for an adult version of this Mia, if anyone's interested.)  
> \- Please note that I have only watched up to ARROW Season 3, episode 21, "Al Sah-Him."  
> \- Dedicated to Gaia; thank you for nursing my love of Queencest when I lost faith.

"Okay, great, we'll see you in a few minutes then, Ollie. Love you." Thea said absentmindedly before ending the call. Tucking her cellphone into the back pocket if her jeans before leaning forward into the bannister slightly to peer into the living room on the first floor.

"Oh where, Oh where, is my Mia-Muffin?" She sing-songed, making a show of looking around as she descended the staircase and entered the living room. If she had not already clocked the tiny pink sock-covered feet sticking out from under their Christmas tree when she'd peered over the bannister, the giggles coming from beneath the large Douglas Fur would have given her away immediately.

Quietly, Thea crept slowly towards the centerpiece of their Christmas decorations and gently, but swiftly slid the little girl out by her cute little toes. "Found you." Thea whispered softly before booping the little girl on her button nose.

The action inspired a few more giggles, "Hi, Mommy."

"Hi, sweetie," Thea replied, holding her hands out to help the four-year-old from the floor, "Daddy just called to see if we're all ready to go when he gets home."

Mia's green eyes lit up as she always did at the mention of her beloved father; she was such a little Daddy's girl and Thea was so happy to witness it. Every little girl's first hero should be their father and Mia? She had the best father in all the universes. "I'm ready to go now!"

"Are you sure about that, baby?" Thea asked, raising her eyebrow slightly with a tiny quirk of her lips. When the young girl failed to register the small flaw that Thea was trying to get across, Thea nodded down to Mia's feet with her chin.

A small, confused furrow appeared between the child's eyebrows before she glanced down. Then she quickly looked back at Thea with the appearance of someone who had just remembered something she forgot, "My shoes. Mommy, I need shoes."

"That's right, Mia, good job," Thea said, bending down to scoop her daughter into her arms. She carried her over to the living room couch and set Mia down gently to not wrinkle the dress that Thea had paid a sizable amount to have custom-made. It was probably true that she would outgrow the dress in a year, but Thea saw no harm in pampering Mia in little ways; a custom dress for special occasions was one of those ways. She would be asked to handle a great deal as she grew up, the least Thea could do was make sure the special days were happy memories to look back upon.

Crossing the room to the place where they all kept their most frequently worn shoes, Thea picked up the noticeably smaller sneakers from the pile. She turned back around and was pleased to find that Mia was still where she'd left her. Ah the joys of Christmas Eve. No child in the world would risk being 'naughty' mere hours before Santa Claus was due to arrive.

She'd barely finished tying Mia's shoelaces when the sound of keys turning in the lock had the excitable little girl jumping to her feet and running for the door, like Oliver wouldn't come in if she wasn't _right_ there to greet him when he opened it. Thea just shook her head with a soft chuckle, slowly rising from her kneeling position, and turning to face the entryway when the door finally swung open.  
"Daddy!" Mia shouted instantly, throwing her arms up for a hug without a moment's hesitation. Having expected such a greeting from his little girl, Oliver scooped her up into his arms for a big hug.

"There's my little Christmas elf," he declared cheerfully, pressing exaggerated kisses to the apples of her pudgy baby cheeks. "Have you been good for Mommy?"

"Uh huh," Mia agreed with a sincere nod, "Mom and I made Santa's cookies!"

"Oh, is that right?" Oliver asked, meeting Thea's eyes knowingly as she met them halfway. Shifting the little girl to his left side, her thin arms looping around his shoulders and her butt on his forearm, he pulled Thea into his right, curling his free limb around her hips. He dipped his head to kiss her as was _their_ personal ritual after being apart (once in private.) It was a chaste kiss, but it still made both their hearts soar.

"Hi, Speedy," he whispered against her lips while Mia tried her darnedest to hug both her parents at the same time.

"Hi, Ollie. I've missed you."

"Missed you two too." Oliver assured, pulling back to smile sincerely at his girls.

"Tutu! Tutu!" Mia attempted to echo happily, loving the repetitive nature of the words, "Tutu! Tutu!"

Oh joy.

"Thanks for that," Thea muttered under her breath for only Oliver's ears.

"Sorry," he whispered in return, shooting her a rueful grin before stepping back and setting Mia on her own two feet. "You ladies certainly look ready to visit the Christmas Lights Festival."

"Yes!" Mia cheered, happily clapping with excitement.

"Apparently," Thea chuckled, enjoying the delight on her face, " _we_ are ready to go. Just waiting on Will to get home from his sleepover."

"Great," Oliver said, "but first…" He let the sentence hang there, building the suspense, before returning to the jacket he'd abandoned to greet their daughter. He dropped to a single knee, rooting in one of the hidden pockets within the lining, only to pull out a medium-sized ruby red box.

The sight of a gift box peaked Mia's interest, "What's that?"

"It's a present for you, Mia-Muffin."

"For me?" Mia inquired hopefully, creeping closer to her daddy and the box he held, "But Santa…"

Resting a hand on Mia's shoulder blades as she came up behind her, Thea explained, "This isn't a Santa gift, baby girl; it's a Mommy-and-Daddy gift."

"Why?" Mia inquired, bouncing on her heels in confused excitement, "What abouts Will?"

"It's a special present, princess," Oliver clarified, kneeling down so that he, too, was at eye-level with their daughter, "just for you." Nodding down towards the box in his hands, he softly prompted, "Go ahead, open it."

With permission to open the present that she'd not taken her eyes away from the entire time, eager little hands reached for the box. She was slightly clumsy as she attempted to raise the lid, but Oliver subtly helped her in her goal without her realizing it.

With the box's top to no longer keep the present hidden from its recipient, Mia gave a small shriek of enjoy as she grabbed the ornament from the box. Letting the ornament dangle from the ribbon that was secured at its top, Mia beamed brilliantly at the sight of her name written along the bottom arch of the handcrafted snowman ornament in Oliver's neatest cursive.

"It's my own snowsman," Mia whispered in wonder, spinning the snowman figure lightly. She looked at that rather simple decoration as though it was far more precious to her than all her toys. It filled both her parents with pride.

"You seemed sad when you were helping me decide where to hang the family snowman ornaments," if 'helping' meant just sitting far away from any possibility of harm and giving directions like 'there' and there,' that is. "we figured it was about time we get you one too."

Just then the front door opened once more, having never been locked after Oliver entered, and Will walked in, with his earbuds planted firmly in his ears & his hands in his pockets. The young boy failed to notice his family standing in the foyer with him. He tossed his backpack in the general direction of the coat rack without a care. Thankfully, the bag was zipped, keeping his sleepover items inside despite the harsh throw.

Mia failed to spot the headphones that prevented her older half-brother from hearing her. She turned in his direction and thrust out the hand (from which the ornament dangled) toward him, declaring excitedly, "Will, I got my own snowsman!"

Will turned and scarcely avoided a pointed finger to the solar plexus by jumping back a step. "Woah, Mi." he said with a slightly disapproving tinge to his voice, tugging the earbuds free with a single, hard tug, "we really need to put a bell on you."

"Sorry," Mia said, dropping her eyes for only a second, before repeating her previous statement. "I got my own snowsman, see?"

"Yeah?" Will tilted the ornament up slightly to look at its face more clearly, "It's pretty great, Mi."

The young girl beamed under the positive comment from her older brother. With the rather large disparity in their ages, the half-siblings were at different points in their lives and with unique interests.

It was the age of princesses, pirate ships, & the seven dwarfs for Mia. Will, on the other hand, was all about his studies and social circle. He didn't have much in common with his 4-year-old half-sister. It wasn't anyone's fault; it was just how it was for them at this point in their lives. Perfectly normal. As such, whenever Will did pay his little sister the slightest bit of attention, Mia preened like a sunflower in bright morning light. It was positively adorable.

"Do you want me to help you hang it up?"

The offer received an immediate response, "Yes!"

Bending down and planting his hands under her arms, Will lifted Mia up onto his bony shoulders like a beleaguered Dad at a terrible teen concert trying to help his child see. A delighted smile appeared on Mia's face. She hurriedly pushed her brunette hair out of her face with her palms, in that way that children do, making her strands more than little static-y. With her vision cleared, Mia put her hands, one on top of the other on her half-brother's forehead to feel more secure on his shoulders.

The consternation on Will's face was fleeting, but still had both his father and aunt chuckling to themselves. The two adults watched with eagle eyes, in case one or both kids started to teeter, in their short journey to the Christmas tree. Mia shared none of her parent's concern, however, giggling in joy with each step.

"Well, would you look at that," Will said, his tone slightly amused, "there just so happens to be a spot right between Mom and me. What luck."

"Oooh!" the four-year-old said amid a soft gasp of awe.

Thea had to hide a smirk behind her hand ever so briefly in response to the teasing tone that apparently (& thankfully) went over Mia's head. The little girl was blinded by the charm and magic of Christmas, and that was the way it should be.

Reaching out for the very spot that her half-brother indicated, Mia's thin little arms were just a touch _too_ short. Her face scrunched up cutely before she leaned forward. Oliver walked up behind his children and helped Mia feel more stable, giving her the security to lean forward just enough to loop the ribbon around the necessary tree branch.

"Good job, kiddo," Oliver affirmed, before, "Down you go!"

Mia squealed in utter delight as she was lifted off Will's shoulders, swung through the air in a low arch before being given a quick sneak hug & planted on her own two feet again. Oliver pulled Will in for a half hug with a tussle of the teenager's carefully-style hair before slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Thea joined the rest of her family in front of the Christmas tree, bending down a little to wrap her arms around Mia's shoulders. She pressed her lips to her baby girl's temple before commenting, "Our snowman family is finally complete."

"Mmhm," Oliver agreed.

"Can we go now?" Will asked, his eyes were already glued to his cellphone's screen. _"_ We're going to miss out on the hot cider and cookies at the end if we don't hurry up."

"Your eagerness to get going wouldn't have anything to do with meeting up with Skyler Lewes, would it?" Thea teased the teenager, smiling in good humor.

Skyler Lewes was one of the most popular boys in Will's class and the two had recently become friends after being assigned to do a science project together. It had been a rather surprising turn of events, given that Skyler was more into sports whereas Will preferred pursuits of the mind, but their friendship was pushing Will past his comfort zone in all the best ways.

"Skyler?" Will echoed nervously, "N-no. I don't even know if he's going to be there."

Thea knew this statement was a fib; she'd found a note, in the pocket of his dirty jeans before she did the laundry a couple of days ago, between Will & Skyler where the boys confirmed plans to meet up at the Christmas Lights Festival. Seeing no harm in the white lie though, Thea said nothing about it.

"Didn't you _just_ spend the night at Skyler's last night?" Oliver asked, a small, confused furrow appearing between his eyebrows.

"Yeah." Will confirmed, though it was obvious by his tone that he didn't grasp why that should impact his plans for tonight.

"Do you not remember your teenage years?" Thea said teasingly, "Tommy basically lived in our house growing up, Ollie." Thea pointed out unhelpfully, before tacking on, "Teenagers are all about their friends."

"To-me?" Mia tried to say, "Who that?"

"Tommy," Thea corrected gently, straightening up to her full height, "was Daddy's best friend growing up and, with the noted exception of your Daddy, he was my best friend too. He was around so often that he was practically a member of the family."

Will asked, "He died, right?"

Oliver nodded once, "He did. He gave his life to protect your Aunt Laurel."

Thea met Oliver's eyes over the children's head; the communication passing between them without a single word exchanged.

"Okay, guys, that's enough sad talk for Christmas Eve, wouldn't you say?" Thea prefaced, "Will's right, we don't want to miss out on the cookies & cider."

With that said, the foursome exited the penthouse loft apartment and headed for the underground parking garage. Oliver started the car while Thea buckled Mia into her car seat and double-checked that Will had properly done up his seatbelt before climbing into the passenger's side and doing her own safety harness. Turning her head to look at her older brother in the driver's seat, she offered him a gentle smile, pretending not to notice the haunted look that lingered in his eyes.

"Okay, who wants to see the Christmas Lights Festival?"

"Me!"

"Me!" Both kids declared, Will only a half a second behind his younger sister's response.

Meeting the eyes of his children in the backseat, Oliver said, "Alright then, let's get this show on the road!"

It was a half an hour's journey to the festival, the car ride filled with off-key singing of old Christmas music & talk about Santa Claus. So simple and yet it was a moment of utter tranquility that the young mother reveled in. With Will getting older, and rapidly approaching the angsty teenage years, these moments of peaceful family togetherness would soon be harder and harder to come by. They might as well enjoy it while they could.

Will jumped out as soon as Oliver put the car into park, cellphone already in hand texting Skyler. He stood beside their vehicle, looking this way and that in what he thought was subtle manner but wasn't. Oliver made quick work of unbuckling Mia from her seat's harness. Mia held her arms out instinctively for Daddy to help her down.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you, baby? It's a really long walk."

Mia shook her head vehemently, "I wants to try."

"Okay," Oliver said, proud smile playing on his lips. Their baby girl was growing up already "If you get tired, just let me know."

"Okays, Unc'e Ollie," Mia agreed before walking off to join William, blissfully unaware of the flinch that the change in title inspired in her father. Thea, however, did see the flinch. Her heart ached for both the father & daughter.

"You okay?" She asked quietly, coming to stand close beside him. She slipped her hand into and gave it a gentle squeeze. A soft chuckle was the only answer her question received, much to her dismay. She prodded gently, turning a little to face him, "Ollie?"

Perhaps he turned to face her because he heard the genuine concern in her voice. Perhaps he turned because he knew that there was no getting anything past her. Either way, he sighed and squeezed her hand before finally coming clean, "It's not easy hearing Mia call me that. It's like a brick wall between us and I hate that, Speedy. I hate it so much."

Thea could see the devastation hidden in his steel-blue eyes and her heart cracked in her chest. God, she hated how they had to hide the truth. It just wasn't fair. "Oh, Ollie..."

As soon as the sound of his ever-familiar nickname left her lips, he was shaking his head in objection, "Don't, Speedy." A weak smile graced his lips, "It's Christmas Eve."

It was then that Will demanded, "Can we go **now**? Please?"

"I do believe we're being summoned, Speedy," Oliver said, pulling his hand from hers before holding his elbow out in a gesture of chivalry, "Shall we?"

Though her brain and heart were still fretting over the moment of distress she'd witness in the man she adored, Thea managed to smile happily as they moved to join their kids. They deserved to be blissfully oblivious to the pressures of adulthood, they would have to face those soon enough; it was her job to give them both the brightest childhood that she could possibly manage.

The hour-long walk covered the 3-miles of the private community that put on this whole event. Mia walked for about 45 minutes before she grew tired and tugged gently on Thea's left hand. "Mommy, I's tired."

Before Thea could offer to carry her, Oliver was giving Mia a piggyback with a gentle note of caution, "Wrap your arms around my neck, Mia-Muffin, hold on tight, okay?"

Mia did exactly as she was instructed and wrapped her thin arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to Oliver's temple before settling onto her father's back for the rest of their journey. Resting her cheek on his shoulder, Mia watched as the lighted houses and decorations passed by her, the lights reflected in her eyes. Thea dropped back to walk alongside the two of them on the pavement.

Each of the cookie-cutter houses was decorated distinctly, and magnificently, much to the delight of the steady stream of people walking up and down their sidewalks. The crowd oohed and awed at various points during their journey, but it was Mia's utterly amazed gasp when they stopped for a few minutes in front of a split-level house that was designed with a Disney's 'Frozen' theme that filled Thea with true warmth.

Will, on the other hand, walked five sidewalk-blocks ahead of them, chatting more with Skyler than looking at the lights. All that mattered was that he had fun and obviously he was.

"Will!" Mia shouted excitedly, pointing to the characters where they decorated the lawn with unparalleled enthusiasm. "Will! Will!" she echoed when her older brother failed to respond in a manner that she deemed appropriate, completely forgetting that her father's ear was in the path of the sound. Thea patted Oliver's bicep in unspoken sympathy. She been on the receiving of that scream many times before. "It's Elsa & Ana! See?"

Thea braced for impact, sure that the teenager would either snub the child completely or snap at her to impress his popular friend, but it never happened. Instead, Will turned around at the sound of her excited scream and smiled, "I see them, Mi. Did you see Olaf?"

"No!" Mia said in shock, "Where?"

"On the roof, there." He pointed towards the chimney and Mia lifted her head from Oliver's shoulder to look more intensely in the direction that Will indicated.

"Look Mommy!" Mia said, eyes going wide, "Olaf and Sven are on the roof!" She giggled, "That's so silly."

By the time their little family reached the refreshment table after walking through the entire 'festival,' Mia was barely staying awake on Oliver's back. Her eyes were blinking with increasing slowness and, despite her best attempts at hiding it, Thea saw her yawning into Oliver's shoulder.

In direct contrast to the littlest member of their family, Will was exuberant as he sat beside Skyler on a nearby curb with tiny half cups of warm cider in both of their right hands. Based upon the look on his face and the wild gesticulating of his arms, Thea could safely assume that he was explaining something super science-y. Instead of looking indulgent or bored, Skyler seemed truly invested in what Will was talking about, seemingly asking questions, and raising counterpoints on occasion. Perhaps the two boys weren't so different after all. So many of Will's classmates failed to comprehend how special and amazing their sweet boy was. It was about time someone else took notice!

She hated to ruin his fun, but it was getting late and they needed to get the kids in bed & dreaming before 10 P.M. If they stayed up past that time, then Oliver & Thea would be up even later preparing for tomorrow morning; they barely got enough sleep on Christmas Eve as it was. They had a great many presents to put out, after all.

She accepted the half-cup of warm cider that one of the volunteers handed her with a small 'thanks,' walking up behind Oliver putting her hand on his lower back as she rounded his side. "Ready to head home, Ollie?" Thea asked in a soft whisper so as not to disturb their daughter who was drifting in and out on his back.

Oliver replied, "Sounds good, Speedy. I think Mia's about ready to dream of sugarplums."

"I's okay," Mia objected groggily, raising a small fist to stifle a yawn, "We can stay."

Thea smiled softly, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of Mia's hair behind her ear, "I know, baby, but what about Santa Claus? You have to be in bed & asleep by the time that Santa arrives, right?"

"Yeah…" Mia said, dragging out the word reluctantly.

"Okay, I'll take Mia to the car. You wrestle Will away from his friend?"

Thea teased, "Easier said than done."

"I have faith in you, Speedy," Oliver said in jest. Both of them knew that separating a boy from his friends could sometimes be a daunting task. Thea was just hoping that this time could be easy, given the holiday the next day.

Giving the father and daughter a little parting wave, Thea spun on her sneaker's heels and approached the duo on the curb. "Hey guys, Mia fell asleep on the walk and we need to get her home before Santa arrives." She offered the two young men an understanding smile, "Are your parents here somewhere, Skyler? Do you need a ride or anything?"

"Oh no, Ms. Queen, I'm fine, thanks." Skyler answered politely, "My parents are around here somewhere."

Thea pretended not to hear Will's slight sound of disappointment before he pushed himself off the curb. Skyler stood too, and Thea watched as the two boys perform a series of complicated maneuvers in some made-up handshake. It was so silly and childish that Thea felt ridiculous for worrying that he was growing up too fast earlier. With one last 'blow up' of their hands, and mutual exchange of 'later,' Will and Thea were headed back towards their vehicle.

"Did you have fun, Will?"

"Yeah." The teenager answered, "the lights were very Christmas-y."

Giving the young man a half-hug as they walked, Thea said, "Glad to hear it."

Oliver was behind the wheel when they both climbed into their usual positions in the car. Thea utilized the rearview mirror to check on Mia. The youngest member of their family was sleeping soundly, her head was propped up against the right side of her car seat and her mouth was open slightly.

"Everyone buckled up?" Oliver asked, looking pointedly in the rearview at his son who was already glued to his cellphone screen again. Will failed to notice. "Will?"

Will answered absentmindedly, "Yeah?"

"Put your cellphone down and buckle up."

While Thea couldn't know for sure, his aunt felt pretty positive that Will rolled his eyes in response to the instruction, but she heard the tell-tale snick of the latch in the housing anyway. Only then did Oliver start the car and begin navigating his way through the congested roads that led out of the festive community.

Once they were back on the highway and the crush of cars fanned out, the tension left his shoulders. Gentle Christmas music filled the cab making the ride home very serene.

Oliver parked in their designated spot within their building's underground garage. When the soothing rumble of the car's engine stopped, Mia's green eyes blinked open sluggishly. After undoing his own belt, Will began unbuckling his sister.

"Will?" Mia asked groggily, "it Chris'mas, yet?"

"Not yet, Mi." he said, "we just got home."

Since the doors were child-proof, Thea hopped out and opened Mia's door for her, just as Will was releasing the last latch from its housing. With sleep still in her eyes, Mia climbed from the car, looked up at Thea, and asked, "Mommy, we have carrots for _all_ the reindeers, right?"

Carding a hand through the little girl's hair, Thea replied amusedly, "Yes, baby."

Thea mistakenly told Mia that, as a child, she'd left a single carrot for Rudolph. Since then Mia _insisted_ upon leaving out carrots for _**all**_ of Santa's reindeers. 'They work hard too, Mommy,' that had been Mia's reasoning when Thea asked. If Santa's reindeer were real (of course they were not, but Mia believed they were) then they would earn carrots for their efforts.

So, a few days before Christmas each year, Thea bought a whole bag of carrots; it also resulted in Thea making homemade chicken noodle soup the day after Christmas with finely chopped carrots in it. Thankfully, the-4-year-old didn't have strong enough deductive reasoning to put together that the carrots intended for hard-working reindeer & the carrots in 'After Christmas' soup were one and the same. _Bless her little heart…_

Meeting behind the vehicle, the foursome were the only ones in the elevator and thank goodness for that! The minute the doors closed, Will was talking animatedly about something he'd learned (that he thought could help Oliver in his capacity as Green Arrow.) Mia, on the other hand, was leaning on Thea's leg. Apparently the four-year-old still too sleepy to remain standing on her own feet alone, but Thea didn't mind. She truly adored the simple moments, when they were all together, just living their lives as a family.

Getting little Miss Mia to bed was priority one and it wasn't an easy task at that. The little girl was always trying to put off going to bed, even when she was very clearly tired and needing sleep. It took ten minutes alone for Mia to get into her pajamas. She brushed her teeth with great slowness (and Thea knew darn well that the four-year-old wasn't overly concerned about her dental health,) she was just trying to drag the process out to avoid bed. The youngster then made excuse after excuse about why she needed to leave her bedroom after being tucked in.

"I forgot to put the cookies & carrots out for Santa and the reindeer, Mommy."  
"I'll put them out, Mia, it's bedtime for you."

"I have to get BlueBeary. I left him downstairs."

"You have half a dozen stuffed animals on this very bed, silly girl. I'm sure BlueBeary won't mind if you cuddle with one of the others tonight."

Mia looked skeptical at best, "I don't know…"

"You don't want your other teddy bears to think you have a favorite, do you?" Horrified that she might have hurt the feelings of her toys, Mia quickly abandoned the tactic of using her dolls to escape bedtime.

"But I didn't say goodnight to Will." Thea sighed, that… was a good point.

"Alright," Thea relented slightly, but she quickly tacked on, "Stay there, missy. I'll get Will to come say goodnight."

Realizing that this was a solution that didn't get her out of her bed, Mia grumbled lightly under her breath, but settled in for a goodnight from her older brother.

Thea made her way to the top of the staircase and called, "Will! Will?"

"Yeah, Mom?" the teenager shouted back, not from the level below as expected, but from his room on the second floor.

She jumped, momentarily spooked, "Oh, um, your sister forgot to say goodnight to you."

Will snorted, "Being stubborn again?"

"Got it in one." Thea agreed, "Can you keep her in her bed for a minute while I try to find your father? I'm sure he's her next excuse and I'd rather save myself a back-and-forth if possible."

"Sure."

"Thanks."

With Will keeping an eye on Mia, Thea took the stairs quickly, seeking out her older brother as she crossed the foyer, "Ollie!"

"Yeah, Speedy?" Oliver answered from the pantry, undoubtedly in there for a snack since he had skipped dinner to be with them even sooner.

"Can you come up and say goodnight to Mia, please?"

"Of course."

Thea remembered to grab BlueBeary before the two of them headed up to their daughter's room. The adults were greeted with the sight of the children playing a thumb war game. It was obvious to the adults that Will was letting his younger sister win, but Mia was clueless to that fact. She was triumphant when she pinned Will's thumb firmly. "I win."

"You're getting good at this, Mia."

Looking up at him with hope in her eyes, "Really?"

Will smiled, "Yup."

That was when Oliver decided to speak up, "I hear there's a little girl in here that needs a goodnight…"

"Daddy!" Mia exclaimed, throwing her arms up. Usually, she had to settle for saying goodnight over the phone, but Christmas Eve was a special evening indeed. The bad guys of Starling City would just have to wait until tomorrow to face Green Arrow's justice. His family was far more important.

"Hey, Mia-Muffin," Oliver said, walking up to her bed, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"…I wanted to say goodnight to you and Will first."

"Ah, of course," Oliver said with a serious head nod, even though he knew enough about her diversionary tactics to know better, "Would a family goodnight suffice?"

Mia nodded vehemently, "Uh huh."

Shifting his weight ever so slightly to address Will and Thea where they lingered near the doorway, "What'd you guys say?"

"Always," Thea agreed.

Will shrugged (though there was a hint of a genuine smile on his lips,) "Sure."

"1, 2, 3…" On three, they rushed for the tiny bed, all of them clambering to hug the little girl at the same time. Mia just giggled and giggled as she ended up being surrounded in a loving crush of hugs. "Goodnight, Mia," Oliver, Thea & Will intoned in an almost perfectly synchronized manner.

"Night!" Mia answered, leaning forward three times to give each of her favorite people a kiss to their cheeks or foreheads.

After pulling out of the family hug, Will excused himself to his room once more. Thea and Oliver lagged behind for a few minutes, tucking in their little girl and checking her closet for monsters, but eventually the parents managed to extricate themselves.

Oliver and Thea leaned side-by-side against the wood of Mia's bedroom door after closing it behind them. Simultaneously turning their heads to look at each other, the brother and sister need not say a thing aloud. They could read the fondness in the other's eyes and the exhaustion that was is in every line of their bodies.

No one had ever said raising kids was easy.

Working as a team, the eldest two Queens gathered all the presents from the various hiding places in their loft apartment. Once all the gifts were in the living room, the two of them sat down on the floor in front of the tree to arrange the packages deliberately.

"Okay so," Oliver said, holding out a glass of red wine to Thea before he took a seat beside her. "The 'Frozen' wrapping paper are Mia's gifts. But which are Will's?"

"Will is the color block and the candy cane are yours." Thea explained, sipping from her glass of wine slowly. By process of elimination that meant that the remaining gifts wrapped in gold, peacock feather paper must be her own. While she had wrapped the other presents, the task of wrapping Thea's gifts had fallen to Oliver, in order to maintain the surprise. "So, Ollie," she mused, "I'm thinking their best presents in the back. That way the other presents aren't outshined."

Setting her wine down carefully, the young mother scooted forward into the pile of boxes & bags, sharing, "I marked the big-ticket items with checkmarks in silver paint."

After a moment of silence, Oliver remarked with amused shake of his head, "You are fucking brilliant, Speedy."

Thea looked at him over her shoulder and smirked, "Are you just figuring that out now?"

After finding the check-marked gifts and placing them beneath the tree in the back, the Queen siblings laid out the other boxes and bags in a visually appealing manner.

With that done, the parents were then tasked with making the 'Santa' food items look convincingly consumed. Oliver poured a half-glass of milk and drank from it, while Thea removed a bag from the crisper. She laid all the carrots on the chopping block and, using a knife, she cut all, but one of them off at the fronds. For the last remaining whole vegetable, Thea sliced it off near the frond as well. but left a sizable portion of the orange vegetable still attached. Returning the bag of untouched carrots to the crisper, and shutting the fridge soon after, she picked up the frond with the most vegetable still attached. Thea nibbled at chunk of carrot in her best approximation of how a reindeer might… not she knew that much about reindeer, but then neither did Mia, so it was probably okay.

Oliver retrieved the plate (designated solely for use during Santa's visits) down from atop the cabinets and gave it a quick washing. He slid the plate over to her, picking up a Christmas cookie that she & Mia baked earlier, and took a sizable bite from it. Accepting the half-eaten cookie, the nibbled bit of vegetable, & the rest of the fronds, Thea arranged the items on the plate and carried both it & the glass of milk to the couch's side table. She set them down carefully in front of Mia's handmade 'Santa' sign.

"How does it look, Ollie? Convincing enough?"

Oliver's arms encircled her waist, pulling her to his chest, "Everything's perfect, Speedy."

"Yeah, right," Thea snorted derisively, leaning back into him unconsciously. His arms were her safe place.

"I'm serious, Thea. You've done all the hard work to make this holiday happen. Decorating this place. Taking both kids shopping for gifts to give people at, not one, but two busy malls. Buying almost all the presents and wrapping them too without the children knowing a thing. Baking all the cookies and singing all the songs with good cheer. You've even answered all of Mia's _endless_ Christmas questions without losing your mind." He chuckled lowly, "You're amazing."

"You're biased." Thea shook her head, "it's what any mother would do, if they could."

"Maybe," Oliver acquiesced with ease, "but just because any mother would do it, doesn't take away from what you've done, Speedy."

He turned her whole body slowly in his arms; his right hand pushed her hair over her shoulder. The smile that graced his lips threatened to make Thea's knees buckle. How had she gotten so damned lucky?

"I love you, Ollie," she whispered, rocking forward onto her toes so that she could kiss him.

"Oh really?" Oliver said against her lips, pulling back only a few inches to say, "that works out then, 'cause I love you too, little sister."

'Little sister,' the term alone turned her insides to absolute mush and based on the glimmer in his eyes, he damn well knew what he'd done.

As much as she would love to indulge in the naughty promise behind that 'little sister,' Thea knew she had to resist the urge.

"Tomorrow's Christmas morning," Thea reminded him with no small amount of regret in her voice. It had been longer than she'd like since they'd gotten some quality 'grownup' time. Between the kids and Oliver's vigilante activities, their relationship had at some point started to take a backseat. It was regrettable, but true. "The kids are going to come busting in as soon as the sun rises. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not start this Christmas with a discussion on why Mommy and Daddy were wrestling naked in bed."

Oliver opened his mouth, probably to object, before his 'Dad' brain kicked in and he realized she was right. He sighed, shoulders dipping with disappointment, "No, you're right. That wouldn't be a good start to Christmas."

"But Christmas night…" After dragging out the moment for suspense, Thea teased, "now that's wide open. The kids will be so zonked after all the excitement of the day…"

"We'll have plenty of time to ourselves…"

She chewed on her lower lip seductively, "with no interruptions."

"Just us?"

"Just us." Thea echoed with a hard nod.

Oliver grinned, leaning down to kiss her once more, "Can't wait."

"Me either, Ollie, me either."

Their life together wasn't 'normal' by any stretch of the imagination, but they wouldn't trade it for anything.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering writing more one shots that feature my Mia, but I'd like to hear from all of you first. Would you like more Mia stories?


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